Page 32 of My Pucking Mate

With only a few minutes to spare, I decide I’d rather be early.

The immediate texting bubbles lift my spirits even higher.She was waiting for me.

Shit. I didn’t think this through.

At least she thinks I look good.I chuckle to myself.Maybe this won’t be so bad.

That’s easy, it used to be maroon but now it’s . . .

26

He said dress comfortably, but what level of comfy are we going for here? Athletic-comfy? Absolute home-comfy? Cute-comfy? Not actually comfy but just public appropriate casual? UGH!

I settle on a happy medium and wear my grey, flared leggings, a hot pink, cropped tee, and a powder pink, oversized crewneck sweatshirt. I finish off the look with little messy space buns and my white tennis shoes and I’ll be ready for anything.

I’m finishing up an assignment when there’s a knock on the door. I scurry to the door to open it as fast as I can.Holy shit. I wonder how long it will take for the sight of him to stop knocking the air from my lungs.

As I swing open the door, I can’t help but take inventory of the man in front of me. Dark grey jogger sweats and a black V-neck T-shirt that barely contains his arms. The T-shirt is also failingmiserably at hiding how incredibly toned his body is. I'm not talking lean-ripped; I'm talking THICK and ripped. He's built like a tree trunk but with muscles. Does that even make sense? Even his hair is a bit disheveled andOMGhe’s holding a bouquet of rainbow daises.

“See something you like?” he asks with a breathtaking smile on his face, but I still can’t make words.

“These are for you.” He chuckles. “I got you a vase for these; I didn’t think to ask last time because it was a surprise, so I decided to just be prepared this time.”

Finally coming to my senses, I accept the adorable flowers. “Thank you so much; these are perfect. Yeah, I didn’t have one, but now my little rose can live with the daisies,” I say, rearranging them and discarding the solo cup.

“This is really so sweet. Thank you, Roman,” I say, trying not to blush all over.

“You’re very welcome. I've never courted or dated anyone, so you'll have to tell me if I do something wrong,” he says with absolute certainty as I just stare and nod for a minute.

“Welp, what are we up to?” I ask.

“I hope you don’t mind staying in; I have a surprise for you back at my place. Good surprises only this time, I promise.”

Nodding, I collect my things. “That sounds wonderful.”

As I’m locking the door to our dorm, my watch goes off. “Oh, crap, let me take my vitamins real quick. I swear, without my alarm, I’d forget them,” I say with a giggle. “You can come back in with me so you don’t get attacked by a crazed fan or something in the hall. Speaking of, you're lucky you haven't been spotted yet. You'll be signing autographs forever when it happens.”

The sound of his half-laughter shoots through me. I wonder what his real, full-body laugh sounds like. I bet it sounds like magic.

As I’m grabbing my vitamins out of the cabinet, I manage to knock the old bottle off the shelf, and it rolls across the floor to Roman’s feet. He bends to pick it up for me, but there’s a borderline scary look on his face.

“What is this?” he asks, his voice low and dangerous, like the day I met him.

“Um, you’re going to think I’m crazy,” I say with a half-hearted laugh.

“Better than what’s going through my mind right now. What is this?”

“Okay, um, I don’t know what you think it is but it’s just the last bottle, and the last multivitamin that my dad bought me before I lost them. It’s just a weird little thing I couldn’t part with. Why are you looking at it like that?” I ask, the anxiety now rising in my chest.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Is that a trick question? I just told you what it is.”

“This is not a vitamin of any kind.”

“What?” I whisper. “Wh-what is it?”

“Leera, this is poison.”

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